


puzzle piece

by marksun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, idk - Freeform, inspired by puzzle piece as the unoriginal title indicates, jeno is cheesy af in this, there's like one makeout scene but it's super short, they kinda cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:01:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23964295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marksun/pseuds/marksun
Summary: The one in which Jeno serenades Jaemin.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 9
Kudos: 79





	puzzle piece

Jaemin’s eyes slowly fluttered open as a cold sensation wrapped itself around his figure. He winced, his eyes still not adjusted to the light that filtered through the curtains flooding the room with a golden hue. He rolled over onto his left side, gaze landing on the empty expanse of bed where Jeno had been lying down moments prior, his lower lip jutting out in a pout at the sight. Contrary to Jaemin, who never woke up before noon during the weekend if he could avoid it, the older had always been an early riser. 

After debating the idea for a while, he lazily stretched his limbs, letting out a growl that blended into a yawn, and proceeded to get out of bed. The brunette rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he waddled his way to the kitchen where he found his best friend –were they just best friends? Jaemin wondered, the line between friendship and romance had long become blurry– preparing breakfast for the both of them. As if sensing the younger’s presence, Jeno turned his head to Jaemin. 

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” the raven haired boy greeted, sporting his usual sweet smile that made his eyes curve into crescent moons and twinkle and that filled Jaemin’s insides with the same warmth the sun did in a clear, spring day. 

“Mornin’,” croaked the younger as he sat down on the wooden counter stool, his voice still carrying that raspy quality it acquires every time he wakes up, to which Jeno chuckled. 

“I made breakfast,” the older said before correcting himself after seeing his best friend eyeing the assortment of various pastries on the counter, his eyebrows raised in skepticism. “Okay, I haven’t. I bought everything at the bakery there is right at the corner of the street. Geez, it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?”

It was Jaemin’s turn to chuckle, his heart rate picking up slightly at the other’s thoughtfulness. 

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s the thought that counts, but why?”

“What do you mean why?” asked Jeno, confused.

“Why did you buy all of this,” the brunette gestured at the sweet treats in front of him. “Am I missing something?”

“Ah, no. Not really, I just...felt like it.”

Despite his attempt to appear nonchalant, Jaemin was able to detect the underlaying sheepish tone in his best friend’s answer, and for a second he swore his heart was about to beat out of his chest from the way it was pounding against his ribcage. If he was being honest, the brunette had always been aware of the fact that his feelings for Jeno were far too intense for them to be merely platonic. The simple thought of him made Jaemin’s chest constrict in a pleasant way and his stomach fill with butterflies dancing to the erratic beat of his heart. The way his hair stood on end whenever they got too close and their hands bumped as they walked side by side or their thighs touched when they were sitting on the couch watching a movie. They were all clear indications of that. Jaemin’s senses hightened in the presence of his best friend, and it had been overwhelming at the beginning, it still was sometimes, especially after their friendship gradually became more affectionate. 

At some point, in the midst of their plentiful nightly escapades to the beach, where they would sit on the sand face to face, fast food take out in front of them, badly mixed cheap alcohol in plastic bottles and nothing more than an acoustic guitar and each other’s presence to keep them company, they found themselves stuck in the thread-thin line that separated friendship from something more. In those moments they would sometimes eat, drink just the right amount to be slightly tipsy, talk about everything and nothing at the same time and sing together until they got tired. On other occasions they would simply lie down on the sand in silence to stargaze, Jeno’s arm around Jaemin’s delicate waist, and the latter’s head tucked at the crook of the older’s neck with only the melody of the waves meeting the shore before retreating once again and their rhythmic breathing being their own personal soundtrack.

Jaemin knew that, at least to a certain extent, Jeno had to feel the same way he did if the lingering glances, the subtle touches that lasted a second too long or the domesticity of their relationship were anything to go by. Friends didn’t fall asleep in each other’s embrace more often than not. Not when each had a bed of their own in their respective houses. Still, none of them had taken it upon themselves to talk things out, which made it all confusing. Before Jaemin’s mind could keep wandering, his train of thought was cut short by Jeno’s voice, which made him snap out of his reverie. 

“What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“I’ve got nothing to do, any suggestions?” 

“Well, I...Uh. I kinda wanted to show you something,” the older boy cleared his throat. He was acting fidgety and sounded unsure when he spoke. Nervous, even. It sparked the younger’s curiosity, his body language shifting to show genuine interest. 

“Sure, what is it?” A hint of undisguised excitement lingered in Jaemin’s voice. 

“Can’t tell you. It’s a surprise,” the black haired boy breezed his thumb and index fingers across his lips, as if he were zipping his mouth shut the way he would zip his jacket during winter, seeking the warmth his overcoat could provide him.

The brunette protested, claiming that he was too impatient to wait. He looked at Jeno with puppy eyes, a tactic that usually worked in his favor, but his best friend wouldn’t budge. A frown painted the younger’s features as he shot a glare at the raven haired boy, who was grinning amusedly at his reaction. Both of them knew Jaemin wasn’t truly angry, it was just pretend. The way his eyes softened a second later, as he took in Jeno’s gentle appearance with his glasses perched on his nose, his silky yet a tad ruffled black hair covering his forehead, and his frame drowning in a big, white t-shirt, was proof of that. 

⋆

The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful. It was a Saturday, so there was no rush. Both boys settled down at the table in Jaemin’s living room facing each other. There was barely enough space for the two of them and even less when there were a ton of papers scattered on the table, all of them class notes that belonged to both of them, but somehow they made it work. They always did. 

Even though they didn’t share almost any classes, they studied together most of the time, working in silence, enjoying each other’s quiet presence and taking breaks every once in a while, just like today. Jaemin had almost forgotten about the surprise his best friend had mentioned earlier. Almost, because as soon as Jeno asked him to come to his house later that day, at around six thirty-ish, the conversation they had had earlier in the morning invaded his thoughts again. Before he could pester the older some more, though, Jeno was already halfway out the door, a bright smile plastered on his face as he waved the brunette goodbye after hugging him tightly. 

Jaemin was alone in his apartment once again for the first time in a couple of days –Jeno had spent the night on Thursday, which consequently led to him staying at his best friend’s place until that Saturday morning. It wasn’t really a rare occurrence, if it wasn’t him sleeping over at Jaemin’s, it was the other way around, yet this time, the younger couldn’t help but feel something akin to nerves bubbling in the pit of his stomach and spreading all over his body, finding a home in it and filling every crevice to be found inside him. It was the anticipation, the excitement running through his veins. 

It took him a while to get back to a state of semi-calmness. His mind was still racing, trying to decipher what could be the surprise that awaited him, but he couldn’t come up with anything basing himself on the most recent conversations they had held. Thankfully, preparing lunch distracted him. There was something about cooking that Jaemin found extremely relaxing, even therapeutic. He played some music on his phone to keep him company as he cooked. Soon, his body relaxed, the tension that had settled in his muscles from expectation slowly fading away hand in hand with the fleeting notes of the background music. 

After cleaning up the kitchen a bit, the brunette glanced at the ugly, bright red clock hanging on the wall, noting that he still had some spare hours before he had to head to his best friend’s house. He could use the time to be productive and work on some assignments he had due in a couple of weeks instead of forgetting them long enough that he had to stay up all night cramming in order to be able to hand them in on time, but the idea of spending these idle hours watching whatever crap he could find on Youtube sounded way more appealing. Those papers were future Jaemin’s problem, and his present self couldn’t be bothered to get started on them at the moment. 

The next time he checked the time, the clock striked five past six. He cursed himself internally. The boy brusquely jumped out of his bed, almost knocking down his computer in the process. Jaemin was one to take long showers, always relishing the way water would feel on his skin when it came into contact with his body and the drops swiftly trickled down, automatically easing his muscles. Not in that moment, though, when he had less than twenty five minutes to get to Jeno’s house and he was still wearing the same, worn out, stained gray tracksuit he had had for at least five years. The brunette was sure he could’ve won against light in a speed race with how fast he showered. He didn’t even bother to fix half the things he had accidentally sent crashing down to the floor in his rush to get ready to be at Jeno’s on time, and even less to check the elbow with which he had hit the corner of the bathroom’s shelf and he was sure would bruise. 

Honestly, Jaemin didn’t really give a fuck about being late, at least, he usually didn’t, but this is Jeno that we are talking about and Jaemin was, maybe, probably, –very definitely– a little in love with his best friend, so he was the exception.  
It was twenty-two past when he finally stepped foot outside, which left him with eight minutes to sprint to his friend’s place, which was a fifteen minute walk from his own at a decent pace. Jaemin was pretty sure he could make it, so he wasted no time in making a run for it. And he did make it, but by the time he was at Jeno’s doorstep the brunette was pretty sure he was one second away from coughing his left lung out, so he bent down slightly resting his hands on his knees, and tried to catch his breath. The sound of the door creaking open, though, made him look up. His best friend was standing there, a confused-yet-kind-of-amused look on his face and questioning eyes casted on Jaemin’s figure. The latter regained his composure and offered the older a grimace together with a peace sign in lieu of an explanation to his wordless question. 

“Hey,” came the younger’s greeting in between ragged breaths. 

“Did you race all the way here?” Jeno asked, not really expecting an answer, it was pretty obvious, but his best friend nodded anyways, “You are such a dumbass.”

Jaemin wanted to say something cheeky in return, but his head was still spinning, and by the time he came up with a good comeback the timing was already gone. Jeno’s stare was still on him, drinking in the younger’s disheveled appearance and marvelling at the way he still managed to look incredibly good. It really wasn’t fair for someone to be this gorgeous even in that state. The older shook his head, finally tearing his gaze away from his best friend and simply stepped aside for Jaemin to come in. Jeno pushed the door closed behind the brunette, making sure to not do it very harshly and began walking up the stairs to his room. He stopped halfway up to turn around. 

“Uh. Wait here for a second. I need to...I have to finish preparing something. Just stay here for like, five minutes. Then come up. Yeah,” the raven haired boy threw a shaky smile Jaemin’s way before rushing presumably to his room. 

The brunette furrowed his eyebrows at his friend’s behavior. Sure, the older was awkward around new people, but he and Jaemin had been friends for longer than a decade. The younger didn’t understand why Jeno was suddenly acting so fidgety; it made him wonder about what kind of surprise he had for him. 

“Jaemin!” exclaimed Jeno’s mother delightedly as she made her way toward the boy when she saw him leaning against the stair rail. 

The brunette grinned at the woman as he said hello and engaged in small talk with her. Excluding the fact that his mother’s features were softer and more delicate, Jeno was the spitting image of her, observed Jaemin as he always did whenever he crossed paths with the woman. The boy was nodding to what his best friend’s mom was saying absentmindedly until she stopped herself, “Come one, go upstairs, Jeno must be waiting for you already.”

The knowing glint in her eyes as she formulated the last sentece told Jaemin that she was aware of her son’s surprise, but the brunette didn’t let himself dwell too much on it. Instead, he offered Mrs. Lee a quick nod and headed for his best friend’s bedroom.

His steps came to a halt when he found himself facing Jeno’s bedroom door. It was shut. He closed his eyes and internally begged his heart to stop hammering so violently against his chest before raising a hesitant hand to knock on it quietly. He heard Jeno hum from the other side, and took it as his cue to come inside. 

Jaemin hadn’t known what to expect, but it sure wasn’t Jeno sitting crosslegged on his bed, dressed in the same clothes he had been wearing earlier, guitar in hand and a gift box lying right next to him. The room was dark, the only source of light being the strings of fairy lights that hung on the walls that illuminated the place with their soft purple glow. Jaemin’s breath got caught in his throat and his best friend sent him the widest, most genuine –albeit clearly nervous– smile, patting the space next to him prompting the brunette to take a seat. The younger obeyed wordlessly, still star-struck. The mattress dipped under Jaemin’s weight as he sat next his friend.

“Hey,” the older said, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“Hi,” responded the brunette, a bit louder than Jeno, after clearing his throat. 

Both boys fell silent again, and it took some time for the younger to gather his words and collect himself, “The room looks really pretty. Is it part of the surprise?” 

“Yeah, and, uh,” the raven haired boy shuffled a bit and repositioned himself so he was face to face with his best friend, “this is too. Part of the surprise, I mean, if you can even call it that” proceeded the older, chuckling awkwardly at the end, before taking a deep breath. Jaemin looked at the older questioningly, not understanding what was going on, but did not pry.

Jeno began strumming a soft melody on his guitar, his fingers grazing the strings to play the chords of the song. The slip of his digits every once in a while and the crack in his voice when he started singing gave away the nervousness he had been trying to conceal. Still, Jaemin only grinned, an indecipherable sparkle in his eyes, encouraging the older to continue.

Like piecing together scattered pieces, 

We fit together our story

Jeno’s voice was incredibly mellow and sweet, if the image of walking on a cloud of cotton candy could be translated into a sound, that would be exactly how the older sounded like. As he listened intently, Jaemin’s eyes became glassy and his breath hitched at how earnest the words rolling out of Jeno’s lips felt. He prayed he wasn’t getting the wrong idea, that this was going where he thought it would. 

The piece that is taking up the empty space 

Somewhere in my heart

I knew from the first glance that it was you

You’re my missing puzzle piece, 

That’s finally been put together  
After a few more strums the music came to an end, the notes fading out and drowning in the silence. Jeno exhaled shakily. His eyelids fluttered open, realizing he had closed his eyes at some point while he was singing, and met Jaemin’s gaze. The younger wasn’t saying anything, the look in his face was unreadable, but the feelings floating about in his dark orbs betrayed his lack of expression. His eyes were glassy with unshed tears. He scrutinized the older's face for what seemed like an eternity, making Jeno incredibly flustered and increasingly anxious. As quick as a flash, the brunette's stare flickered down to his best friend's lips before locking eyes with him again, his face leaning closer to Jeno's at an excruciatingly slow pace. Only a few centimeters stood between when the younger paused. 

"Can I kiss you?" whispered Jaemin, his breath fanning the other's mouth. 

Jeno’s tongue darted out to wet his lips, a nervous habit of his. He could sense his best friend’s eyes following the motion and he felt his cheeks burning up. Afraid that his voice would betray him, the raven haired boy simply nodded. 

When their lips met, the touch was delicate, tentative. Jaemin’s lips were chapped, as always, but Jeno found himself not giving a damn. He had been waiting for this moment way too long. Kissing his best friend for the first time was nothing like fireworks exploding in his chest and lighting his whole body on fire. It wasn’t grandiose. Instead, it felt as if everything was finally falling into place; like coming home after being away for an eternity; like wrapping yourself in a soft, fluffy blanket after a cold winter day. It filled Jeno’s insides with peace to the brim.

The kiss was short, chaste, sweet. Jaemin joined their foreheads when they parted, a smile tugging at his lips. His eyes were sparkling, and Jeno swore they held entire galaxies. 

“I really like you.”

“I really like you too,” the younger responded, as equally breathless as the other had, and leaned in for another kiss. 

“Wait,” the older giggled, placing a hand on Jaemin’s chest before grabbing his guitar, which was still sitting on his lap, and putting it away after depositing it back in its case, “I still need to give you something else.”

Back to taking a seat in front of the brunette, Jeno took the gift box from where it was resting on the bed and handed it to the other.

“Here, open this.”

Jaemin eyed curiously at his best friend (almost boyfriend?), whose cheeks were slowly flushing a pale pink and then at the box. He accepted it, opening the lid just a tad so he could peek inside only to realize he wasn’t able to identify anything from just that tiny opening. When he removed the lid completely and set it aside, his gaze fell on the handprinted words that were scribbled on the baby blue cover of a notebook: “Our memories.” 

Tears bagan pooling in his eyes as the realization that Jeno had made him a scrapbook gradually sank in. The younger faced the ceiling, blinking the tears away before they could run down his cheeks and inhaled deeply, trying to steady his frenzied heartbeat. Carefully, as if afraid the scrapbook would crumble to dust if he wasn’t gentle enough, he pulled it out of the box. He lightly grazed his fingers against the hard cover of the memory book, letting them trace the written words engraved on it. 

Inside the notebook were plenty of pictures from their earliest years of friendship to the most recent ones, all accompanied by some kind of scripture reminiscing the moments when the photos were taken or simply or simply commenting something funny about them. Mementos from their trips ond outings together were also clipped on the pages, decorating them. There were no excessive flourishes, the scrapbook was minimalistic, what made it even more beautiful in Jaemin’s eyes, because it had Jeno’s essence in it. On the inside back cover were handwritten the lyrics of the song the older had played minutes ago and a single question: “Will you be my boyfriend?” 

After having succeeded to hold his tears back while he took in the contents of the scrapbook, a couple of them eventually sprang free. Two crystalline drops slid down Jaemin’s face as he looked up to meet Jeno’s expectant stare, which was, of course, coupled with crimson-tinted cheeks. The latter scooted closer to the brunette, placed the scrapbook on the nightstand and wiped the younger’s tears with his thumbs ever so delicately, a small, tender smile gracing his lips.

“I love it, thank you,” muttered Jaemin, words dripping with genuineness.

“There is no need to thank me, Nana. So what do you say?” asked the older in a hushed tone, as if he were confiding his deepest secret to the boy in front of him. A pause.

“What do you think?” a bit more collected now, Jaemin grinned teasingly, despite his face still being tear-stained. Jeno rolled his eyes at the younger’s antics, smacking his arm jokingly. 

“Just answer, dumbass.”

“Of course I’ll be your boyfriend.” 

“I’ll kiss you now.”

The older closed the gap between them, pressing their mouths together. One of his hands found its way to cup the brunette’s cheek at the same time he felt the younger’s arms snaking around neck. The kiss was not as sweet this time around, the feelings both boys had been dancing around for so long finally unleashed, instead it was full of passion and longing. Halfway through the kiss, the brunette found himself lying down on the bed, with the older hovering over him. Their lips moved against each other’s languidly, without rush, savoring each second of it. 

Jaemin whined, chasing Jeno’s lips as the older pulled away to catch his breath and climbed off of the brunette, rolling to the side to lie down next to the younger.

“Jen, can we cuddle?” 

“You don’t even have to ask,” said the older facing his now boyfriend, already securing his arms around Jaemin’s waist, while the younger moved even closer to rest his head on the other’s chest and tangled their legs together.

They stayed that way for a while, cuddled up on Jeno’s bed in silence, solely listening to each other’s even breathing and rhythmic heartbeats. 

“I think I might be the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“Yeah, me too.”

The puzzle was complete. They were at home.

**Author's Note:**

> first work i upload here and literally the first fic i've managed to finish in forever tbh. i was too lazy to proofread it so there might be mistakes lmao, n e ways! thank u so much for reading if u've managed to reach this far, u deserve the world  
> also, feedback would be very much appreciated just in case i decide to write smth again so i can improve


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